Pumpkin & Cranberry Bread, lightly spiced with cinnamon it’s a real taste of Autumn.
Autumn is well and truly underway with plenty of misty mornings, beautiful spider webs and showers of colourful leaves. Halloween will be here before we know it and I can’t seem to keep up with the produce from the Kitchen Shed veg garden. I love growing pumpkins and squash even though they’re a greedy and thirsty plant and our pumpkin patch has done really well this year. I grow pumkin and squash in a sunny spot on what amounts to an old covered compost heap where the soil is rich so a pretty much perfect place to grow. The flavours of pumpkin and squash, in both sweet and savoury dishes, are big favourites of mine and luckily OH shares my enthusiasm – this is great because unlike the courgette wars, there’s no need for me to use recipes which disguise flavours.
I’ll be sharing plenty of pumpkin and squash recipes this month and the first I’d like to share is my Pumpkin & Cranberry Bread. The pumpkin adds moisture and a natural sweetness to the bread and pairs well with cranberries; lightly spiced with cinnamon it’s a real taste of Autumn. Serve a buttered slice with a cup of tea for a perfect afternoon teatime treat – sometimes I even spread a little of my Pumpkin Pie Jam on top for an extra treat. I’ll be posting the Pumpkin Pie Jam recipe next week, so watch this space.
Pumpkin & Cranberry Bread
Ingredients
- 500 g (3 ½ cups) strong bread flour
- 1 tablespoon dried yeast
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- ¼ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 50 g (1 stick) butter
- 200 ml (¾ cup) buttermilk or half milk & half yoghurt
- 75 g (½) cup dried cranberries
- 2 tablespoons marmalade – chopped
- 150 g (¾ cup) steamed pumpkin or squash – pureed
- egg wash
Preheat oven:
- 400°F / 200°C / Gas Mark 6
Line:
- 1 large baking tray
- Warm the buttermilk (or milk and yoghurt mixture) for 1 minute in a microwave on full power. The liquid temperature needs to be tepid to warm so as to encourage the yeast to start working – too much heat will kill the yeast. Gently warm liquid in a saucepan if you don’t have a microwave.
- If mixing and kneading your dough by hand:
- Combine all the dough ingredients in a large bowl, stirring them together until they form a ball.
- Knead by hand for 10 to 12 minutes.
- If mixing and kneading your dough using a freestanding mixer fitted with a dough hook:
- Add the dough ingredients into your mixer bowl.
- Mix on slow speed number 1 for approximately 1 to 2 minutes then on speed number 2 for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Your dough should be lovely and smooth and elastic.
- Place your dough in a large greased mixing bowl and cover.
- Leave to rest in a warm place for at least one and a half hours or until doubled in size.
- Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and divide into 3 portions.
- Roll each portion with your hands into a 35 cm long sausage shape.
- Lay the 3 dough sausages in front of you and begin plaiting from the centre, left over right, right over left etc.
- When you reach the end, turn your plait and repeat, plaiting in reverse order.
- Press the ends together and tuck them in to neaten.
- Cover and leave to rise for about 45 minutes or until doubled in size.
- Bake in the oven the 35 to 40 minutes until golden brown.
Pin Pumpkin & Cranberry Bread for later:
I’m entering Pumpkin & Cranberry Bread into a few challenges this month:
- The Teatime Treats Challenge hosted by Karen over at Lavender & Lovage and Janie at The Hedgecombers, hosted this month by Karen.
- Credit Crunch Munch created by Camilla from Fab Food 4 All & Helen over at Fuss Free Flavours & hosted this month by Camilla.
- The Extra Veg Challenge created by Michelle from Utterly Scrummy & Helen from Fuss Free Flavours & hosted this month by Kate at Veggie Desserts.
- The No Waste Food Challenge created by Elizabeth’s Kitchen Diary hosted this month by Kate at Veggie Desserts.
And linking to: Fiesta Fridays
Oooh, yummy! I LOVE pumpkin (why doesn’t everybody?!) but I’ve never used it in bread before. Must try this one. Thanks!
Thanks Susan, the pumpkin keeps the bread really moist & gives it a natural sweetness. I thought everyone loved pumpkin, lol! let me know how you get on 🙂
What a beautiful innovative loaf flavour. I love flavoured loaves with fruit in them! Delicious. Thanks for linking up to both #CreditCrunchMunch and #ExtraVeg
Thanks Helen, fruit loaves are a favourite with us too. I’m looking forward to trying out some more flavours soon. A pleasure to link up with #CreditCrunchmunch & #ExtraVeg 🙂
I love your pumpkin recipes! This sounds amazing, particularly with your pumpkin pie jam. Thanks for entering the No Waste Food Challenge and Extra Veg!
Thanks for the lovely comment Kate, we love pumpkin here at the Kitchen Shed & it’s a pleasure to link up to the No Waste Food challenge & Extra Veg 🙂
Your Kitchen Shed Veg Garden sounds like a special haven – Looking forward to more Pumpkin & Squash recipes too. Wonderful bread! #Bakeoftheweek
Sarah, you are like the queen of the kitchen and my baking idol!!! The picture of your bread is like something out of a magazine. I have thought about next year seeing about trying to grow some pumpkins. I can only imagine how gorgeous your garden looks! Thanks so much for sharing your recipe with #foodpornthursdays.
What a lovely comment to make Trista, thank you. I hope you do grow some pumpkins next year, as long as you give them plenty of water and food they’re really easy to grow. I haven’t really got a garden as such, it’s a big field with a tamed corner that still manages to look rather wild, I love it tho x
Yum, what a lovely colour bread and I would love a slice or two right now!
Thanks Lucy, if you’ve got any pumpkin leftover from making your lovely pumpkin cake it’s definitely worth trying.
Great recipe! Love the braiding technique as well. Thanks for sharing with FF#90
Thanks & a pleasure to share with FF#90 🙂
The bread amazingly good and it almost screams- make me, make me! 😀 I’m not very good in baking breads, but your recipe sounds very easy to follow and make it! And I love pumpkin and cranberries in it! Which type of dried yeast did you use?
Thanks Mila. Sorry I haven’t got back to you sooner, I hope you still have time to make the bread. I used a dried fast action yeast ( Doves Farm ) Let me know how you get on 🙂
Beautiful piece of loaf!!!
Thanks for popping by 🙂
This recipe is making my bread baking loving heart go pitter patter! Your bread is just gorgeous, and it’s apparent that you enjoy bread baking too!
Thanks Julie, that really means a lot to me. It’s a pleasure to share a recipe with a fellow bread lover x
I love how the pumpkin adds moisture to this bread. It looks delicious as well. The cranberry flavor must be a great compliment to this traditional autumn bread. I actually went to a cranberry bog last weekend, so I have a lot of them around my house right now. Happy FF, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend! 🙂
Thanks Kaila, the sweetness of the pumpkin does pair so well with the cranberries. How lucky to be able to go to a cranberry bog, I would love to see them growing. Happy FF & have a fab weekend too 🙂
I never thought to combine pumpkin and cranberries – yum!
Thanks Malinda, I think I’m addicted to pumpkin & cranberries at the moment I’ve got another recipe with them coming out soon. Thanks for stopping by 🙂
What a gorgeous loaf! I’ve never tried a platted loaf before, you really make it look so pretty and easy. Thanks for linking up with us for Fabulous Foodie Fridays, have a great weekend!
Thanks Lauren, I kept to an easy 3 braid plait, anymore & my plaiting looks untidy 🙂
This sounds delicious Sarah! I love plaited loaves too – they just seem to have that little something ‘extra’ to them. We too love squashes (particularly butternut squash) but would never have thought to include the pulp in a bread dough. I’m certainly going to have to give it a whirl. #Bake of the Week
Angela x
Thanks Angela, the squash adds a lovely sweetness to the bread & keeps it moist too. Let me know how you get on x
Found you through the #FoodPornThursdays link up. This looks like heaven! I bet it smells amazing. This is great for fall can’t wait to try this!
Thanks Mergen, you’re right, there’s nothing better than the smell of baking bread 🙂
This looks and sounds delicious! I look forward to your other pumpkin recipes too 🙂
Thanks Amy, it won’t be long before I post another pumpkin recipe 🙂
This bread looks wonderful Sarah. Thank you for sharing the recipe. I love the plait effect, it really makes it look very special. I’m quite keen to see your pumpkin pie jam recipe too. I could definitely sit down now with a cup of tea and a slice of this. Heaven I’m sure!
Thanks for linking up at #LifeLovingLinkie I hope to see you again soon!
Sally @ Life Loving (drooling a little bit now….)
Thanks Sally & a pleasure to share with #LifeLivingLinkie I love to use shapes in bread making, it’s great for the look of the bread but also makes a better rise. I’m sure I’ll be over to your linky soon 🙂
That looks excellent! I wrestled with a large pumpkin last year, we had soup and the like for weeks it felt! #tastytuesdays
This looks utterly gorgeous! I’ve made pumpkin soda bread a few times before but I haven’t tried a ‘real’ bread with it in before. Definitely something to try. Thanks for linking up to #cookblogshare this week x
Thanks Mandy, pumpkin soda bread sounds delicious. A pleasure to link up with #cookblogshare x
Hey Sarah! this looks so divine and just want to take a bite right out from the picture.. lovely.
Thanks for stopping by Famidha, glad you like my Pumpkin & Cranberry Bread.
Oooh I bet is such a tasty loaf. I love the combination of pumpkin and cranberries x #CookBlogShare
Thanks Kirsty, it is a delicious loaf, I’ve steamed some extra squash & popped it in the freezer so I can make some more later x
This bread looks so moist and delicious Sarah I really want a slice with jam right now! Thanks for linking up to #CreditCrunchMunch with this delicious recipe:-)
What a lovely idea to use pumpkin in a bread! This one looks delicious. I’m looking forward to reading your other recipes using pumpkin and squashes! Eb x
Thanks Eb, the pumpkin works really well. Looking forward to your visits x
Mmmm this sounds lovely – a perfect Autumn bake. I love the pleating too – it looks great 🙂
Ooh what an absolutely stunning loaf. I love the combination of flavours and will absolutely try this recipe. Delicious. Sammie x
Thanks Sammie, look forward to hearing how you get on x